# Fuck people who call people "mouth-breathers" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 21, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916 "2011-12-21T03:25:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/1 "2011-12-21T03:25:22Z")
I have bad sinuses. I have allergies. I frequently have to breathe through my nose and mouth at the same time. And yes, sometimes I breathe through my mouth. Is there some reason why people who have trouble breathing through their noses are derided as lesser than those who can breathe through their noses? So, fuck ya’ll. Jerks. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/2 "2011-12-21T03:28:37Z")
Careful, don’t keep your head held high in indignation _too long_ while you’re walking…You might fall off the side of the Earth. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/3 "2011-12-21T03:39:23Z")
When people have bad breath and breath through their mouths, it just makes it that much worse. Here, have a mint. No, I insist. _Chew the fucking mint or stop breathing near me._ ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/4 "2011-12-21T03:41:25Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Is there some reason why people who have trouble breathing through their noses are derided as lesser than those who can breathe through their noses? Yes. It’s because they look stupid with their mouths hanging open. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/5 "2011-12-21T03:46:21Z")
Guilty! Sorry dude. Seriously. Have you tried Mucinex? ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/6 "2011-12-21T03:49:46Z")
The term came into use because many mentally retarded people habitually have their mouths hanging open (often due to the structure of their jaws/tongue), often with the tongue protruding. No one notices if someone normal-looking has to breathe through their mouth. I’m sure you don’t go around slack-jawed. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/7 "2011-12-21T03:50:12Z")
When I hear the term “mouth breather”, I picture a neanderthal-ish character standing there with an open mouth, breathing noisily while staring emptily at whatever it is that means nothing to them. I think pop culture and movies have propagated this image. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/8 "2011-12-21T04:04:00Z")
Don’t get your panties in a bunch. Just because there’s not an absolute correlation doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist. Besides which, it’s generally clear when people are breathing through their mouth due to nose issues versus the slack-jawed look of idiots. The issue of slack-jawed mouth breathing is an interesting one, though, since it really does seem to correlate strongly with idiots. Makes me wonder what the mechanism is. I find that it works even on a transient scale amongst non-idiots… I notice sometimes if I’m just waking up, and my brain is still half asleep and I’m not operating at full brain power, I’m far more likely to have my mouth open. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/9 "2011-12-21T04:06:54Z")
Some folks’lll never eat a skunk But then again, some folks’ll Like Cletus, the slack-jawed yokel ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/10 "2011-12-21T04:23:38Z")
How about we replace it with “open-mouth food-chewers?” ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/11 "2011-12-21T05:02:39Z")
Eh, I also have permenant allergies and have to breathe through my mouth a lot. The expression has never bothered me. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/12 "2011-12-21T06:17:19Z")
I’d be up for replacing it with _ **"Lip-movers"** _ to designate how dense guys read books. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/13 "2011-12-21T07:48:53Z")
I mostly notice the open mouth breathing in correlation with advanced age (70 plus) and a lack of teeth. I’m not sure if there is a physiological reason for that, but I assume that there is. I am less willing to assume that about the tendency to tell endless stories of the past, out of the blue, to those who just happen to be in the same place at the same time which also crops up in those interactions. I am desperate for scholarly research into why so many of those stories happen in locker rooms while the teller is naked, was naked when I came in, and remains naked as I finally extract myself from the “conversation” and get on with my day. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/14 "2011-12-21T09:08:45Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I’d be up for replacing it with _ **“Lip-movers”** _ to designate how dense guys read books. St. Augustine, a serious brainiac in his time, had trouble with that one (and was very impressed that St. Ambrose could read in complete silence and without mouthing the words to himself) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/15 "2011-12-21T10:56:01Z")
> [@3trew](#): > > I mostly notice the open mouth breathing in correlation with advanced age (70 plus) and a lack of teeth. I’m not sure if there is a physiological reason for that, but I assume that there is. > > I am less willing to assume that about the tendency to tell endless stories of the past, out of the blue, to those who just happen to be in the same place at the same time which also crops up in those interactions. > > I am desperate for scholarly research into why so many of those stories happen in locker rooms while the teller is naked, was naked when I came in, and remains naked as I finally extract myself from the “conversation” and get on with my day. This reminds me of that time I was in Portugal, and I walked by a man sitting by the side of the street. What was strange about this (strange being how we described these things in those days) was that he had a really strange looking right hand, all lumpy and deformed, which may have been the style at the time. I meant to enquire as to this but was distracted by the sight of Johnny Knoxville walking past me, heading northbound towards the city centre, which is what we called the middle of the city in those days. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/16 "2011-12-21T11:02:12Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > St. Augustine, a serious brainiac in his time, had trouble with that one (and was very impressed that St. Ambrose could read in complete silence and without mouthing the words to himself) 😛 That’s a fun factoid. I was suddenly and (quite undeservedly) proud of myself for reading quietly, and I had a fleeting image having passed the fifth year test at Hogwarts of having mastered quiet spells. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/17 "2011-12-21T11:47:51Z")
> [@3trew](#): > > I am less willing to assume that about the tendency to tell endless stories of the past, out of the blue, to those who just happen to be in the same place at the same time which also crops up in those interactions. My question is always: “How the fuck can you remember all of the pointless details and boring minutia of that inane event from half a century ago, and not remember the fact that **you already fucking told me that awful story** - several times.” ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/18 "2011-12-21T11:49:55Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > This reminds me of that time I was in Portugal, and I walked by a man sitting by the side of the street. What was strange about this (strange being how we described these things in those days) was that he had a really strange looking right hand, all lumpy and deformed, which may have been the style at the time. I meant to enquire as to this but was distracted by the sight of Johnny Knoxville walking past me, heading northbound towards the city centre, which is what we called the middle of the city in those days. That was fucking interesting. Could you work “strange” in there one more time? ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/19 "2011-12-21T13:45:16Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > That was fucking interesting. Could you work “strange” in there one more time? This reminds me of that time I was in Portugal, and I walked by a strange man sitting by the side of the street. What was strange about this (strange being how we described these things in those days) was that he had a really strange looking right hand, all lumpy and deformed, which may have been the style at the time. I meant to enquire as to this but was distracted by the sight of Johnny Knoxville walking past me, heading northbound towards the city centre, which is what we called the middle of the city in those days. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916/20 "2011-12-21T14:03:34Z")
Agatha Christie has lots of young female characters–often ones who get killed off–who are supposed to be not very bright and are described as “the adenoidal type”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-people-who-call-people-mouth-breathers/606916.md?page=2)